SARAWAK’S leaders feel vindicated by the recent Kimanis by-election, saying the polls showed they were right to cut ties with peninsula-based parties and remain independent.

The by-election demonstrated that a Borneo-based party would lose support if it was seen to be aligned with peninsula parties, whether the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition or opposition Barisan Nasional.

Parti Warisan Sabah was rejected by Kimanis voters because it is aligned with PH, said Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leaders.

Warisan’s Karim Bujang lost to BN’s Mohamad Alamin by 2,029 votes in the contest last month.

Political analysts told The Malaysian Insight that GPS leaders are expected to double down on their “regionalism” in order to win the Sarawak elections, which are expected to be called next year.

Muara Tuang assemblyman Idris Buang said although Kimanis is in Sabah, there are lessons that GPS can draw from the by-election.

“Despite its claim to be a local party, Warisan could not be seen as authentically fighting for Sabah interests due to its ties to PH,” said Idris, of GPS lynchpin Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

“Therefore, a valuable lesson we learnt from the by-election is that GPS must be genuinely independent of any Malayan party, be it PH or BN.”

GPS consists of four parties: PBB, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Sarawak United People’s Party and Progressive Democratic Party.

The four were part of BN, but left the pact after it was defeated in the 2018 general election.

Sarawak Chief Minister and GPS chairman Abang Johari Openg said the bloc will remain independent despite attempts to court its support by politicians based in the peninsula.

There are claims that a new federal-level political bloc is being formed that will include Umno, PAS and some sections of PKR, with the support of 16 GPS parliamentarians.

“We are an independent GPS,” Abang Johari said when launching the local GPS chapter in Sibu recently.

PRS president James Masing, meanwhile, described Warisan’s team-up with PH as “a mistake”.

He said peninsula-based parties have different political agendas, chief of which is to exploit Sarawak and Sabah’s oil and gas resources.

Political scientist James Chin said the Kimanis polls showed that “state nationalism” or regional sentiment plays a large part in Borneo politics.

The University of Tasmania Asia Institute director said any party that campaigns on what matters most to Sabahans and Sarawakians will draw votes.

During the Kimanis by-election, the Sabah temporary pass, better known by its Malay acronym PSS (Pas Sementara Sabah), was a hot-button issue.

BN had claimed PSS was a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in the state, who would then outnumber the local Kadazan Dusun Murut ethnic groups.

Warisan and PH had ignored calls for the matter to be shelved and fine-tuned.

“PSS was the No. 1 issue and related to state nationalism,” said Chin, adding that Warisan paid for its stubbornness.

The pass has since been scrapped.

On the other hand, GPS is in the driver’s seat in Sarawak, and has perfected its brand of state nationalism.

“Abang Jo is clever to use Tok Nan’s strategy to play Sarawak nationalism,” said Chin, referring to the chief minister and his predecessor, the late Adenan Satem.

“Even though Sarawak BN kowtowed to Putrajaya for 50 years.”

He added that GPS’ “Sarawak First” is a winning slogan to which PH has no equal. – February 9, 2020.